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Faculty Focus

One of the strengths of the BBA Program is its faculty. Diverse backgrounds and extensive experience in the workplace make them true educators.

One professor who brings real world experience to the classroom is Professor Jorge Villegas. After owning a small ad and research agency in Monterrey, Mexico, Dr. Villegas obtained a doctorate in advertising from the University of Texas at Austin. Following a teaching position at the University of Florida where he was awarded Teacher of the Year, he was invited to UIS in 2009.

Research and service are creative and important activities for Dr. Villegas but his true love is teaching (please don’t tell his wife).

He might ask his students to get involved in the ice cream experience: The owner had to franchise or create a brand to communicate the quality and uniqueness of her store, electricity is needed to keep the ice cream cold, raw materials arrive in trucks so roads and refrigerated trucks are necessary, and a key factor is a government that allows the enjoyment of ice cream as well as fosters stores like this one.

Other considerations are the types of ice cream available because not everyone would enjoy avocado or corn ice cream (both flavors easy to find in Yucatan, Mexico but impossible in the USA) and a good ad campaign to communicate what a customer whould expect from this shop. Success could also hinge on the design of the store (a Goth candy store might not work in the Midwest …or anywhere).

Let’s consider the consumer, in this case Dr. Villegas. He needs money to pay for the product (apparently charm is never enough) so that means income to pay for a small luxury in these times, a family (Angelica D., Gabriel, and Angelica G.) who need to be on speaking terms with him, the energy to walk or drive to the ice cream parlor (roads are important again), also the streets should be safe eough to rish your life for a frozen treat (unfortunately, this is not the case currently in Dr. Villegas’ former home, Monterrey, MX) and most importantly a nice shop to be loyal to.

Now multiply these networks of entrepreneurs, streets, trucks, retail spaces, decisions of pricing, products, and promotion as well as the myriad of social, economic, and political issues for each product and service that you buy every day. Now you understand why Dr. Villegas loves marketing. We see the results of marketing everyday but it’s not until you really study this discipline that you understand how intricate, complex, beautiful, and important marketing is for all capitalistic countries.

Dr. Villegas’ research focuses on how emotions have an impact on persuasive processes, and more recently he has interviewed top creative officers who work in large ad agencies about creative processes. Dr. Villegas courses include Principles of Marketing, Advertising, and Consumer Behavior. He has a growing network of former students who share with him their successes as well as failures in the competitive world of marketing and advertising.